Woolwich could see 30 shipping containers installed near station as workshop studios
Site in foreground
Plans are in for 30 shipping containers to be installed on a car park in Woolwich near the Royal Arsenal and Elizabeth line station.
The site is directly beside approved plans for Armourers Court above the eastern end of Woolwich Elizabeth line station.
The applicant states the existing car park is underused as another in front of Gunnery House is sufficient.
This area is under-utilised despite a housing crises and close proximity to Woolwich station as it’s classified as Strategic Industrial Land.
Despite the housing crises land for acres east of the the Elizabeth line is grossly under-utilised, with nearby single-storey warehouses used as gyms and car storage areas and showrooms.
We’ve recently seen examples of smarter thinking and planning in London with light industrial uses combined in mixed-use development with housing. Flexible space at ground floor level that can accommodate a wide range of uses and flats above.
In Woolwich no sign of that yet but large single storey warehouses abound.
Of course heavy industry is another story and housing will not work cheek by jowl, but the vast majority of uses in Woolwich near the town centre and station are nothing like heavy industry.
Instead a strategic plan could see heavy industry focused in undeveloped industrial land away from homes and transport links in areas such as the White Hart Triangle in Thamesmead.
The application can be viewed here.
Shipping containers that are properly fitted out with windows to allow air and light in can make good premises for businesses and even small homes.
There was a small site which i saw on televison where all the businesses premises where made out of converted shipping containers and the owners loved it. But I cannot remember the exact location.
Trinity Buoy Wharf just up the Thames is a prime example. Great quality premises at affordable rates for SMEs that then subsidise the rates for local artists. Currently available office space around the Elizabeth line station is either utterly dire or too far from the station to make sense (or too costly to even consider).